Birds Eye View

List of animals

The animals we saw were:

*Great Basin Fence Lizard- we saw it run acros the land in front of us while we were observing and we were able to identify it because of its color and tail.
      -most people just call it Lizard

*Honey Bee- we saw it flying on a flower and were able to identify it because of previous knowledge.

*Spider- saw it on a tree as we were looking around but were unable to identify it.
     -brown with lighter brown on back.
     - Very large.
     - On its web in a tree

* Unidentified bird- found two nests. One was very large and in a tree, could not see top of nest. the other nest was smaller and higher in a tree. So we assumed there were two separate bird species. No actual birds were seen.
   

List of Plants

The list of plants that we saw were:

*Agave- we saw this around our site to the right of where we were sitting.

*Cliff aster- this was all around us and we saw it on the walk up to our site.

*Black Cottonwood- we saw this mostly on our way up to the site.

*Deerweed- we saw this on our hike up and as we were walking onto the trail.

*Black Mustard- this was another common plant that we saw all around our site and on the walk up to our site.

*black Sage- this was mostly on our way up to our site, we saw this growing around the trail.

*Poison Oak- we only saw this in the beginning when we were still with the teachers, by where we started walking on the trail.

Site Description

The Location of our site was at Eaton Canyon down the trail about half a mile.  When we were walking towards the mountain it was about a ten minute hike.  In all directions our site was approximately twenty feet.  We saw a bird, snake, spider, and another unidentified habitat.  The trees were understory type trees and the land around us was very dry. Including lots of shrubs and twigs.  The feel of the area was very quiet and there was animal noises and the sound of the wind blowing.  Some of the plants we saw were Agave, Cliff aster, Fleabane Aster, Black Cottonwood, and Deerweed. There were sticks on the ground and dried up plants around us.  On the way up to our site there were a lot of very pokey bushes that had no leaves, just branches.  One of the animals we saw most was the Fence Lizard, which is very common around the canyon.  Some of the other animals we saw were bees and butterflies.  We heard signs of birds but did not see any.  We saw signs of other animals because we saw the homes they made but again did not see them so we were not sure what species had made them.

This picture shows a spider web.  Although spider webs are common this shows that there are many different animals out in the canyon and everywhere you look you can see a sign of one, even if you cant seethe animal itself.

This is a picture of the birds nest we found in a tree.  It was very high up and we could only see the bottom of it.  Like the animals burrow, we did not know what kind of bird made this nest.

This is a picture of poison ivy.  I did not know what this looked like until the teachers showed me. It was interesting to find out what it was and to know to stay away from it.

This is a animal burrow that we found near our observation area.  Although we were unsure what type of animal made this burrow, it was very interesting to see such a large home that put together.

This is a cactus. There were a few of these on the way to where we did our observations.  This is a plant that stores water so it can survive in very high temperatures.  Although the day we went wasn't very hot it can reach temperatures up to 100+ degrees.

This is the trail where we started our hike.  This trail led into the mountain trail where we observed.  There was many plants and bushes going into the trail and we had to be careful not to get scraped.  This picture is at the very front where we started.

This is what we saw as the bus pulled up. We started our hike here with the teachers and went in separate directions after for our separate observations.  This shows a large view of the canyon; we hiked up on the mountain for our observations.

This is one of the snake homes we saw.  It looks like it has been empty for a little while because of the dirt that has started to fill up the hole.  This picture also shows some of the dried up branches and such foliage that was abundant in our site.

Eaton Canyon observation log. By Lauren Chacon.

October 29, 2012
At 11:22,

Our observation area is about 20 meters in all directions.  I heard a cricket in the trees. Theres a slight breeze and  its 84 degrees. There are a lot of ants in the area we are observing.  A butterfly just flew by us, not sure what kind. It was yellow.

At 11:30,

Temperature is the same, still a breeze.  Just heard a bird call, not sure what kind of bird and did not see the bird.  There are a lot of bees around us, also a lot of flowers. No poison ivy, a lot of dead brush.

At 11: 40,

Temperature is the same.  There are a lot of trees and other plant life around us, i see a few snake habitats, they are all empty unfortunately.  A few birds just flew by.   In one of the trees i see a birds nest, its very large and is built on many branches.  There are no birds in it, maybe those were the birds that flew by.

At 11:50,

Temperature is the same. I can hear dogs barking now, i think its coming from a hiker on the trails.  The shrubbery around us is mostly dried up.   The only green is the trees. I just heard something in the bush next to me, i cant see what it is.

Eaton canyon observations

                                            EATON CANYON SIGHTINGS

I saw a small lizard running around throught the bushes.

A bird has been chirping. not sure what kind it is.

There is something moving in I the bushes.

There is alot of dead brush around and spiky plants.

There are many trees around.

Alot of bees

There are alot of snake holes or gopher holes all around.

Uneven terrain.

lots of rocks.